Closets and Showers
by Requiem of a Dream
Summary: This is a sequel to I Think . . . I Know.


Title: Closets and Showers

Author: Requiem of a Dream

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters affiliated with SVU.

A/N: This is a sequel to I Think . . . . I Know.

Closets and Showers 

"El'lot!" The toddler said as he ran towards Elliot with his arms stretched out. Elliot bent down and picked up the three year old. He had soft brown hair covering his head, his mouth and nose were a definite mix of his mother and father, but he had baby blue eyes.

"Hey Elias, where's your mom?" He asked the little boy. Elias turned and pointed back towards the bookstore that was in the mall.

"Elias? Elias! ELIAS!" Holly heard Olivia calling as she ran out of the bookstore.

"Olivia!" Holly called and waved her hand. "Over here." Olivia looked to her left and relief flooded her face as she saw Elliot next to Holly and holding Elias. She ran over and took the boy from Elliot's arms.

"Elias how many times have I told you not to run away from me? Anyone could take you, and I would never see you again!" She said, holding the boy's face so he would look at her.

"El'lot." The little boy said, pointing back at Elliot.

"No buts! Stop running or I'll put you back in the stroller." She said in a threatening tone. The little boy pushed his bottom lip out and shook his head. She picked him up and sat him on her hip, but he turned with his arms stretched towards Elliot, so Olivia handed him over.

"So what are you guys doing here?" Holly asked.

"Just shopping for a couple of new books for Elias and a gift for Maureen. How about you? Baby clothes?"

"Yeah. We were just getting ready to head home actually, my feet are killing me." Holly said. She was nearly eight months pregnant.

"What did you get Maureen?" Elliot asked.

"It's a mat that you lay in the crib. It has a sensor to let you know if the baby stops breathing. I had one with Elias. I was so afraid of SIDS that I never really slept the first three weeks I had him. It's a godsend for new mothers."

"Oh that sounds like something we should get Elliot." Holly said as she anxiously rubbed her hand over her abdomen.

"Yeah we'll see about getting one on our way out, but I think we should get home before you can't sleep tonight."

"I remember a year and a half ago when you liked it when I couldn't sleep at night." Holly said mischievously, referring to when they were new in their marriage.

"That's an entirely different story."

"Well I'll let the two of you get home, and I'll see you tomorrow at Maureen's shower." Elliot handed Elias back to Olivia.

The next morning Olivia was up at 7:30. She made breakfast for Elias and bathed him when he was done eating, and then dropped him off at her neighbor's apartment and went for her morning jog. When she got back, at 9, she hopped in the shower. At 10 am her neighbor knocked on her door and gave Elias back as she did every weekend. Olivia dressed him in a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt, grabbed her purse and Maureen's gift, and then headed out to the baby shower.

"Go bye-bye?" Elias asked as Olivia strapped him into the child seat.

"Yes. We're going to go see Elliot, and Holly, and Maureen, and Kathleen."

"Mo-mo!" Elias said excitedly.

Maureen had become a child psychiatrist. She loved children, and they loved her, especially Elias. Maureen had a small practice so she offered to watch Elias for Olivia when she went back to work. To keep the children comfortable and entertained, Maureen had a room full of toys, and if she had a client Kathleen, her sister and secretary, would watch Elias. Olivia drove the 20 minutes to Maureen's small home. Olivia rang the doorbell, and a few second later Maureen appeared and opened the door.

"Liv, hey come in." She said stepping aside and letting her and Elias walk into her home.

"Mo-mo!" Elias said and opened his arms for her to pick him up. Maureen bent down and picked up the little boy and hugged him tight.

"You know, Elliot is in the kitchen." Maureen told Elias. She set him down and he ran full speed into the kitchen, straight to Elliot.

"So where is your little bundle of joy?" Olivia asked.

"James has her right now in the living room. Everyone is cooing over her."

"I'm surprised you guys have been able to pry her from Elliot's arms."

"It took some coercion; but we've promised that he gets to have her for an hour after everyone leaves. Olivia laughed and followed Maureen into the kitchen.

"Hey Liv." El said, getting up and hugging her. Olivia looked over to see Elias with his head pressed against Holly's belly on the couch.

"So how do feel that your granddaughter is only going to be two months older than your son?"

"Don't even go there. I can't believe I'm having another child, and my first is married with her first baby."

"You better not be complaining!" Holly called from the couch with a smile on her face.

"Never." He said with a smile on his face.

Olivia knew that both of them were nervous about having a child. Both of them were 45 and so there were genetic risks for their baby, and Holly had developed gestational diabetes. That was why they joked so much about her pregnancy, and the age of their baby and granddaughter; to hide their worry. Olivia and Elliot moved a couple of chairs to behind the couch so they could sit near Elias and Holly.

Kathleen dragged Maureen, along with James, to the seats at the head of the malformed circle of friends and got the baby-shower underway. The first game was trying to guess how many diaper safety-pins were in a small jar, at which Maureen's friend Angela won getting closets to 61 by guessing 52. The second game, they were given a paper with two lists on it. One was what the mother animal was called, and the second list was the name of the baby animal, and they had to match them up. Kathleen won that one, she says just by guessing. It was in the middle of the third game that the party went south.

Everyone was tasting the baby-food and trying to figure out what the ten jars were when the doorbell rang. Angela jumped up and grabbed the door, and escorted the late arrival into the living room. Olivia turned and gave Elliot a jar of baby-food that she had determined to be squash. When Olivia turned back she noticed Elias playing with a little boy that had not been at the party earlier.

"Hey Elias, who's your new friend?"

"John'than. He's not new." Elias said.

"What do you mean he's not new? Have you played with him before?" Olivia asked. Elias nodded his head yes.

"When?"

"With Mo-mo." Olivia thought that perhaps it was one of Maureen's patients.

"Hey, where's your mom Johnathan?" Olivia asked. Johnathan pointed behind her. Olivia turned around and saw Kathy sitting at the bar. Olivia gave her a small smile and then elbowed Elliot in the ribs.

"Kathy is here." She said under her breath. Elliot turned around.

"Hey Kath, I thought Maureen said you couldn't make it."

"My appointment was cancelled so I thought I would drop by; after all she is my daughter too." Elliot turned back to the game in front of them and finished it up. When it was done Elias and Johnathan came up to Olivia.

"We go outside?" Elias asked. Olivia nodded her head and took the boys outside to the backyard. She sat on a patio chair and was watching them play with a couple of toy cars when she heard the backdoor open and then close.

"How old is he, three?"

"Yeah, his birthday was two months ago."

"A June baby, just six months after Johnathan. Funny thing is, I seem to remember the girls telling me that you left SVU because you wanted to get pregnant, not because you were pregnant; and I know he wasn't premature because I would have heard about that."

"Well Kathleen and Maureen must have been mistaken and misunderstood Elliot."

"Must have." Kathy went silent again for about a minute.

"He looks an awful lot like Dickie did at that age; the light brown hair, blue eyes, high cheekbones, and I know he's tall for his age because he's six months younger and at least three inches taller than Johnathan."

"What's your point Kathy?" Olivia asked, starting to get a little annoyed.

"Well lets count back three years and five months ago. Oh, that was just about the same time that Elliot and I got a divorce because he slept with you."

"No Kathy, you guys got a divorce because you were trying to pass off Mark's child as Elliot's, and he found out about it."

"I wonder how Elliot would feel about knowing he has another son out there."

"Leave it alone Kathy." Olivia said in a low tone.

"Or better yet, how Holly would feel."

"Leave her out of this; leave that skeleton in the closet She's pregnant and doesn't need any stress in an already high risk pregnancy." Olivia looked back over to the children and saw Elias picking up a worm and bringing it to his mouth.

"Elias Stone Benson! Put the worm down." She said, glaring at him. He dropped the worm and went back to playing.

"Elias Stone? And Elliot or Holly haven't' caught on yet?" Olivia rolled her eyes and turned her chair so her back was to Kathy. Twenty minutes later Elias and Johnathan decided that they were tired of playing outside and went back into the house. Olivia stayed outside with Kathy.

"Look; Elliot knows. He knows. He's not stupid, he did the math and he figured it out. You can be as mad as hell at Elliot and me but you leave Elias and Holly out of it, because they don't know. As far as they are concerned, and ever will be concerned Elliot is just my friend and no more than an uncle to Elias."

Olivia walked back into the house to see that Maureen was opening the gifts. She took a seat next to Kathleen and watched as Maureen opened her gifts and Johnathan and Elias helped to clear away the wrapping paper. Thirty minutes later the baby shower was over and everyone was leaving. Elias and Johnathan walked up to Olivia, with their best puppy-dog eyes.

"What do you want?" Olivia asked.

"Can John'than come over to play?"

"No, not today baby. Maybe we can call his mom next week and set up a play-date." Olivia lied through her teeth.

"Johnathan why don't you go back to your mom, Elias and I are going home." Olivia said, picking up Elias and her purse. She said good-bye to Maureen and left her house.

Later that night, around two in the morning, Olivia got a phone-call from Elliot.

"Liv?"

"Elliot?" She asked. His voice was gruff and it hardly sounded like him.

"Liv, I need you."

"Elliot what's wrong? Where are you?" She could hear voices in the background.

"She's gone Liv. Holly's gone. She went into premature labor and she hemorrhaged; she and the baby are gone." Hurt, anger, and tears flooded his voice.

"What hospital are you at?"

"Mercy General."

"I'll be there in 20 minutes." Olivia got out of bed and threw on a sweatshirt and her running shoes. She went in Elias' room and picked him up out of bed and walked to her car, picking up her keys and purse on her way out the door.

"Go bye-bye?" Elias asked sleepily.

"Yeah honey. We have to go get Uncle Elliot."

He nodded his head and then his eyes closed again as he fell back to sleep. Olivia was going nearly 50 all the way to the hospital, and praying every step of the way that no other cops would pull her over. She got to the hospital in a record breaking 10 minutes. She pulled Elias out of his seat and took him into the hospital with her.

"What floor is the maternity ward on?" Olivia asked.

"4th floor." The nurse told her. Olivia hurried to the elevators and caught one that was just about to go up.

"What floor?" The other occupant, a doctor, asked.

"Fourth." She rode up the fourth floor, and hurried to the nurse's station once she arrived.

"I'm looking for Elliot Stabler. He- -" She stopped when she saw him sitting in a chair across the room. She walked over to him.

"Elliot. Elliot, let me take you home." She said, gently grabbing his hand. He looked up at her, his eyes were red and swollen and he looked exhausted. He got out of his chair and followed her to the elevators. While they were riding down he finally spoke to her.

"Can I hold him?"

"Of course." She handed Elias over to Elliot.

Elliot held him tight, and buried his nose in his hair, trying to hide behind the toddler. Olivia watched silently out of the corner of her eye, and when the elevator stopped she led him out to the car. Elliot strapped Elias into his seat, and then got into the passenger seat next to Olivia. She pulled out of the hospital parking lot and started driving to Elliot's house.

"Where are we going?" Elliot asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm taking you to your house."

"No. Can we just go to your apartment? I can't be there right now."

"Yeah of course."

She flipped a 'U' and headed towards her apartment. The rest of the ride was in silence; Elliot was staring out the window, and she could see tears falling down his face. She pulled into her parking spot and she followed Elliot and Elias up to her apartment. She opened the door and flipped on the light so Elliot could see where he was going. She watched as he opened the first door on the right of the hallway and walked in with Elias. It was her bedroom, but she didn't say anything. She set her purse on the table, put her keys in the side table by her door, and flipped off the light as she walked down the hall.

She walked into her bedroom to see Elliot lying in her bed, Elias lying next to him, encircled in his arms. She took her shoes off and climbed into bed on the other side of Elias. She wrapped her right arm around his waist and laid on her left arm. She stared at Elliot over Elias' head and watched him. He was watching Elias, watching as he sucked his thumb and his chest rise and fall.

"What happened?" Olivia asked.

"Kathy called and told Holly that Elias was mine. She got upset, understandably so. She was angry that I didn't tell her; that I had kept it a secret for so long. She was yelling at me when suddenly her water broke; and there was blood in it, so much blood."

"I picked her up and ran her to the hospital; I had my light and siren going and got there in less than ten minutes. They got her into the OR and started to do a 'C' section."

"They wouldn't let me into the OR, but the doctor told me that when they hooked up the fetal monitor, there was no heartbeat. They had the baby out in under a minute, but he was already gone."

"They found a knot in the umbilical cord. The neonatal team tried to bring him back while the OB tried to stop her bleeding but they couldn't save either of them. The doctor told me that Holly had been in labor, probably all day with light contractions, and that the contractions and the position of the baby is what caused the knot to finally tighten and cut off his air and blood supply."

"God Elliot, I'm so sorry." She said. They both moved closer to their son, and laid their arms on each other's waist. Olivia watched as Elliot's eyes closed and his breathing evened out. She watched as Elliot took one breath for two of Elias'. And she watched as he finally relaxed. Slowly she drifted to sleep as well; her hand gripping his t-shirt.

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